Columbus, Ohio – A deadline of until June 30 was given by Ohio for major marijuana growers to apply for 12 licenses for large-scale cultivators for cannabis cultivators it offers.
PharmaCann, a multi-state operating company based in Illinois, is presently bargaining for parcel exchange options across Ohio, according to Jeremy Unruh, the External Communications Director and general counsel of the company.
Unruh said that PharmaCann would construct a greenhouse facility with a total area of 65,000 square foot aiming to employ 30 to 45 individuals if it is granted one of the 12 large-scale cultivator licenses that Ohio is offering.
He also said the company would invest $20-30 million in Ohio if the state yields the company’s plan to acquire a license to operate as a dispensary in the state as well.
PharmaCann runs a whole site with two cultivation facilities and two dispensaries in Illinois, including one 135,000-square-feet growing site. It also operates four marijuana dispensaries in New York. It is the second company to announce its plans in Ohio marijuana venture next to CannAscend Ohio LLC.
The new medical cannabis industry of Ohio is being regulated by three of the state’s agencies – Department of Commerce, Ohio Pharmacy Board and State Medical Board.
The large-scale cultivating companies that will be granted for as many as 12 licenses can start their operations on a 25,000 square feet establishment, while small-scale cultivators can start from 3,000 square feet.
The state will start accepting applications for licenses for the small-scale cultivators’ category from June 1 to June 16, and applications for licenses for the large-scale cultivators’ category will start from June 19 to June 30.
Applicants’ scores will depend on several factors, including their operational plans, finances, security and quality assurance.
Ohio’s medical marijuana was legalized June of last year by Gov. John Kasich who signed a law authorizing it to be used for treatment by individuals with 21 conditions in the form of oils, vaporizing, patches and edibles. Such as those who are diagnosed with cancer and chronic pain.
The program is expected to be fully operational by the month of September as required by Ohio’s law. All the individuals, establishments, and companies involved supplying, handling, and taking the drug are bound under the rules set by The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.
This new program of Ohio seems to base some of its aspects from the elements from the strategies of the other states that worked well, Unruh said. He also noticed that the timeline set by the state for growers to start their operations was somehow aggressive.
Unruh said that the span of time producers would take to earn a profit would heavily depend on the number of participating doctors in Ohio to the program. The more doctors who will recommend medical marijuana prescriptions to their patients, the shorter the time that the growers have to wait, and the faster that the program will be successful.
With the number of aspiring applicants for the license, including the major players in the marijuana cultivation industry such as PharmaCann, what are the chances that this new medical marijuana program of Ohio will set to downfall?
